What is Fashion in Schools and why do we need it?
Conceived and developed by former fashion editor Bel Jacobs, Fashion in Schools is a UK-wide project aiming to introduce the realities of the fashion industry and its impacts to kids aged 11 and upwards.
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH FASHION?
Fashion presents itself as glamorous and necessary but its footprint on people, planet and animals is proving too heavy. One hundred and twenty billion items of clothing are produced every year; most of it is thrown away or incinerated, sending tons of natural resources, millions of animals lives and thousands of hours of human labour up in smoke.
Over 60 percent of today’s clothing is made from synthetic materials, with the result that washing clothes accounts for 35 percent of micro plastic pollution in the oceans. Pollution, water use and waste remain key issues: it takes 10,000 litres of water to produce a single pair of jeans.
Human rights issues continue to beset an industry known for building its wealth via the labour of some of the world’s poorest people. Eighty per cent of today’s 75 million garment workers are women; only 2 per cent are paid a living wage. Ethical abuses continue into the world of fibres and materials. Over 100,000 animals are badly killed for their fur every year, 1 billion for skins to turn into leather.
WHAT IS FASHION IN SCHOOLS?
In the face of a climate emergency and the inequities exposed by the pandemic, Fashion in Schools aims to alert students to the impact of their purchases through engaging content. Looking at different aspects of the industry along the supply chain, Bel will speak directly about her personal journeys from mainstream fashion editor to campaigner and speaker for alternative systems in fashion - and for a fashion system that produces far less than it does now.
WHAT DOES FASHION IN SCHOOLS COVER?
A powerpoint presentation will examine fashion’s self-image before moving onto a key moment in fashion history: the fall of Rana Plaza, a garment factory in Bangladesh, taking with it 1,134 lives.
The environmental impact of fashion - from waste to water, from human to animal rights, from mental health to ideas of identity and wellbeing - will be investigated.
The rights of garment workers is central to the work before students will be introduced to the many initiatives seeking to address the industry’s wronsg as well as the sustainable, ethical brands and technologies that exist - including ideas of the circular economy, regenerative practices and alternative business models.
The presentation rounds up by suggesting to students ways that they can help accelerate the beneficial processes that the planet so desperately needs.
Optional areas of study include:
leather and other fibres derived from animals; the cruelty involved in their production; the alternatives
the role of social media in accelerating consumption; who controls the dialogue in these spaces?
diversity. Does Fashion adequately represent all races, body types, orientations in its culture?
advertising. How fashion media campaigns work to entice and compel purchase
new fibres. What’s coming up to replace damaging synthetics and animal skins
Content can be easily adapted to support curriculum requirements, limitations on time and levels of learning. It can also be delivered via zoom.
MEET THE MAKER
For longer sessions, schools can request that local makers, menders, upcyclers, crafters and knitters accompany the main speakers, to conduct interactive workshops. With a focus on hand-on skills, students will be introduced to imaginative ways in which they can turn the clothes they already own into items that express their interests and personalities.
